It would have to be pretty special to drive to Shirley, MA on Sunday night in the pouring rain to see some music and that’s what we did recently. Graham Parker, the angry young man, now a more mellow older man of 61 was at The Bull Run with the Figgs. How could we miss him. He of the late ’70’s punk scene. His voice and music is iconic – Squeezing Out Sparks, Local Girls, Heat Treatment, Fools Gold and on and on. And, he sang them all along with some new material.
If this was in the old days, the show would have been have been at the Paradise and I would have been on top of a table. Fast forward to 2012 at the Bull Run. First of all, it was like being at a function, with everyone seated at tables of 8. We like to be close to the stage and we were – practically on the stage. So close we could see the pores on Graham Parker’s face! And the crowd-sedate, to say mildly. People our age, but we’re not like them, are we?? No, we had to get up, go to the back of the room so we could properly hear the music and dance around.
Graham’s sporting a goatee these days and looks more like a professor now than an angry young man. His voice is strong and he still likes to rant. He was supported by the Figgs, a 3 piece band from New York who have been playing with him for quite a few years and a very intense young keyboard player rounded out the band.
For those of you who don’t know Graham Parker, you’ll become familiar with his music when the new Judd Apatow movie comes out in the fall and for the movie Graham has reunited with his original back-up band, The Rumor.
